Toward a Deeper Understanding: Testing a Multidimensional Framework of Professional Learning Communities in Sub-Saharan African Schools

Abstract

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are becoming increasingly popular, in a recognition that teachers’ knowledge is situated in teachers’ daily experiences and best acquired through ongoing practice and reflection. This study examines the relationship between participation in PLCs and teaching practices and tests specific aspects of a PLC framework for sub-Saharan Africa, which has not been studied before. Data originate from a teacher survey implemented with over 2,300 preschool and primary education teachers in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, and Nigeria. Our results show a positive significant relationship between higher levels of participation in PLC and constructivist student-centered practices for two out of the three countries under study. Findings also indicate that PLCs’ four core characteristics conceptualized by the literature from high-income countries are associated with higher constructivist student-centered practice across all three countries.